


and kiss his lips to death

by Carmilla



Category: Revengers Tragedy (2003)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Gen, Gloriana is a Revenger, Gratuitous iambic pentameter, Sexual Content, Villain Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:40:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28097799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carmilla/pseuds/Carmilla
Summary: Gloriana chooses her masks carefully.
Relationships: Gloriana/Vindice, hints of Gloriana/Lussurioso
Comments: 5
Kudos: 8
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	and kiss his lips to death

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RobberBaroness](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobberBaroness/gifts).



> Happy Yuletide, RobberBaroness! Thanks so much for a seriously inspiring letter, and I hope you enjoy this.

Gloriana sat at her dresser, pondering which mask to wear for the evening. The smiling Venetian volto, perhaps, with curls of gold around the eyes? That was suitably striking, and appropriate for a dance with the Duke’s son, hinting as it did at both wealth and beauty. Beauty mattered - Lussurioso had not said one word to Vindice about Castiza since he and Gloriana had first met, and the more his obsession shifted in her own direction, the safer they would all be. She had the means to drive him off when she chose to, after all.

She reached for the volto, then hesitated. She might be underestimating him. Perhaps a man who put fresh cuts in his cheek every time he ventured out might be intrigued by a hint of her true face.

She found the battered cardboard box under the dresser, and unwrapped the porcelain visage from its layers of tissue paper. It had been broken before she found it; the top quarter was missing, showing off the still-flawless skin of her forehead and around her right eye when she put it on. On the rest of the surface, hairline cracks snaked across the delicately painted cheek and eye, and brought a touch of menace to the bright red lips. She’d picked the thing up as much from a sense of fellow feeling as anything else.

Carefully, she adjusted how it sat over her face; just a hint of scarring on her right cheek showed, subtle enough to be taken for a shadow unless you looked closely. She tied it firmly into place and took a minute to adjust to its weight. Looking at the full picture in the mirror, hands absently smoothing down the grey satin bodice of her dress, she was satisfied. Time to find out how closely Lussurioso would look.

~

He greeted her outside the club, bowing over her hand with a little flourish.

“My lady Silence, ever full of grace.”

She flicked her fan upwards at him in acknowledgement. She and Vindice had worked the signs out between them, keeping to the bare minimum.  _ I’ll write. I’m listening. I’m thinking. Maybe. Yes. No. Wait. _ Lussurioso had picked them up fast, which was a point in his favour. How much less entertaining all this would have been, had he been tedious.

He tucked her hand into the crook of his arm, and led her into the club. The bouncers bowed as they passed. On the dancefloor, he pulled her close, and they swayed together in a rhythm that had nothing to do with the pounding beats coming over the sound system. For the moment he appeared content to talk as little as she, and Gloriana allowed her mind to wander.

Suppose she had not knocked Vindice’s glass from his hand in time. Suppose she had been forced to this undertaking by herself. Would she have sought out Lussurioso then? She felt his solid warmth pressed against her chest, her belly, her thighs. A man who could stab his own brother to death in the very bed where he sinned, without giving him the chance for a single prayer. A man who could hear of another brother executed in his place and only smile in faint satisfaction. A man who, after all that, could talk his way back into his father’s good graces. Yes, surely she would have found a use for him. She curled her fingertips into the muscle of his upper arm, and felt his grip on her tighten appreciatively in response. It might even have been more than one use. She might even have enjoyed it.

He leaned down slightly, putting his lips to her ear. “Much as I do enjoy your company, our meeting here tonight was to a purpose. There is a service you could do for me. Such service I could well reward, in time.”

He pulled back to arms’ length, eyes on her fan. She signed _I’m listening_ . He smiled, and drew her in again.

“My father is the Duke only in name. In nature he’s a base adulterer, violent in whim and hot in temperament. He’s poisoned goodly women for being good. He even gave an order for my death, when I did but avenge his cuckoldry. I have his pardon now, but what is that? Each day he lives,  _ my  _ life hangs by a thread.”

There was a certain joy in hearing Vindice’s words pouring out of his lips; turned on  _ her _ , to persuade  _ her _ . She almost felt that she could laugh. The hook had been well baited, clearly.

“I know a man, who’s done me some good offices. This fellow of mine my father did approach and asked him plain to find a woman for him. ”

The music was swelling again, something fast and pulse pounding - though Gloriana knew that was not why her own heart was beating so fast.

“This most base assignation that he seeks would be in some unknown, secluded spot. He’d be alone; alone, but for my man. At such a time, there’s much could be accomplished.”

He pulled back only a little, this time; just enough to look her in the eye. He reached a hand towards her face, and pressed his thumb to the corner of her mask, just beneath where her scar showed. When he came close again, there was a hint of tenderness in his voice; it amused her, but it warmed her a little, too.

“I think you are a woman of the world. That you’ve seen much, and maybe could see more, if the cause was just, and not take too much hurt. And so I will make bold to ask you this. I swear the Duke will lay no hand on you. My need is but a lure, to coax him in. My lady Silence, will you be my bait?” 

She couldn’t show too much eagerness. The woman she was for Lussurioso would not be too eager, whatever her feelings about the request. So she retreated out of his arms, and left a decent pause, regarding him, while he stood at a respectful distance. Then she moved her fan firmly.  _ I’m thinking _ , she signed.  _ I’ll write _ .

He bowed over her hand again.

“My lady, I will wait upon your word.”

~

Vindice melted out of the shadows the minute Lussurioso left her, on the doorstep of the flats where he thought she lived. The swiftness of the appearance suggested that he’d never been more than a few feet away all night, though she hadn’t seen him. She enjoyed the thought; him tucked into a corner of the club somewhere, eyes fixed on her while she danced, ready to punish any hand that came near her in a way she didn’t like. Eyes fixed on Lussurioso as he spoke to her, not knowing for sure what he was saying but hoping, hoping....

_ Yes _ , she signed to him. He let out a delighted whoop and swung her around in his arms.

“Revenge, my love, revenge!” He darted in, pressing a kiss just beside her right eye. “For me, and I swear, just as sweet for thee.”

She tilted her face as she’d practiced in the mirror, so the porcelain looked like it was smiling at him.  _ Yes _ , she signed again.

~

Later, he rested his head on her shoulder as she sat at her dresser again, unmasked, composing a missive to Lussurioso that came clearly enough to the point while being vaguely worded enough to shield it from prying eyes.

‘My gracious Lord,

I have given much thought to your request, and I must confess that I see both sense and justice in it. Yet I am afraid. Knowing that all that you told me must be true, the risk to my self - not simply to my life! - is very great. But there is one way that I could feel secure. If your Lordship will give me your word that you will be at the place, in person, to defend me should such defence be necessary, then I will be pleased to do as you have asked me.

Your lady S.’

She folded the letter and sealed it. She would send it tomorrow - no, better the day after. A proper show of hestiancy to back her words. Vindice’s eyes met hers in the mirror.

“And so, both foxes will land in a single trap. Have you decided what’s to be done then? You know well what the safest course would be.”

She did know. And yet....

_ Maybe _ , she signed.  _ I’m thinking _ .

He smiled at her, crookedly.

“Well, when the time comes, your judgement will be law. To bed, my love?”

They fucked fast and rough, her astride him, his hands locked around her hips, fingers pressing greedily into her flesh. She came sooner than she meant to, hard, almost viciously, then leaned down, pressing her chest against his; he brought a hand up to tangle in her hair, and pressed kisses to her cheeks, her forehead, the lids of her eyes, as he rocked them towards his own climax.

Afterwards, he lay with his head below her breasts, muttering about gold and thuderstrikes and whores who bathed in milk, and how best to wash the world clean. Absently, she petted the soft fuzz of his recently shaved hair, half listening. He sometimes got taken like this, especially in times of great excitement. Her poor dear love. He was mad, of course. But then, weren’t all men mad, in this age? She was mad too, most likely. There were far worse things in the world than madness. She curled her fingers against his nape, and fell asleep.

~

Gloriana dressed herself for the Duke. Earlier, she’d had a sudden, mad impulse to wear her wedding dress. (She still had it, folded at the bottom of a suitcase somewhere. The bodice was so stained with blood she wasn’t sure it would even be possible to unfold it.) Not a practical idea, but the thought of it had warmed her, so she’d sent Castiza out to find her a new dress, something white and lacy. Tonight her mask would be simple veils, layered on top of each other so that only a hint of her eyes showed through. She was going to enjoy every moment of this she could, in every way that occured to her.

Castiza was watching her, sitting on the bed. Gloriana checked the dresser mirror, then presented herself for inspection. Castiza looked her over once, nodded, and then hugged her, sudden and fierce.

“Sweet sister,” she said, pressing their cheeks together briefly. “May you gain all you desire.”

Castiza’s face was a contradiction, Gloriana thought. All the freshness of youth; but there was something cold and ancient in her eyes, and the men who ignored it did so at their peril. She herself was glad of it; girls as beautiful as Castiza needed every weapon they could get.

Nothing needed to be said; their plans were well laid, and they knew their parts. But Gloriana made her their private signal. It didn’t mean words, exactly. It stood for love, and trust, and common cause. Castiza smiled, and made it back.

“When the time comes, I’ll watch you. Look for me.”

Pulling her jacket close around her, she left; she needed to be in place before the others. Gloriana looked back at the mirror, and tried to even out her breathing.

~

She had arranged herself a few steps from the bed, waiting for the Duke to arrive. He wasn’t expecting a trap; but better to be sure. Let him watch her walk across the grounds. Let him admire her light figure, the grace of her movements, as he had once before. Let him think his filth, as she turned and crawled onto the matress. The more sin in his heart when he died, the faster Hell would reach up to grasp his soul.

Lussurioso was lying under the bed. Strangely, all she could think of that was that he must be very cold, on the bare nighttime ground. He had nodded to her, before he concealed himself; but he hadn’t spoken a word.

She could hear Vindice’s voice; they were coming. Vindice was amusing himself - talking about her silence, her shyness, her  _ grave  _ looks. She gave a slow, deliberate glance over her shoulder, and looked upon the Duke as he came towards her. She had thought she might be afraid, but she only felt light, lighter than air. Feeling as if she was floating, she walked, and turned, and crawled.

“Be bold, my lord!” Vindice called cheerily. “Look on her beauteous face.”

And suddenly the Duke was right there with her, his weight pressed on top of her, his breath hot and sour in her nostrils. He smiled ingratiatingly. “I’ll kiss you now, sweet lady,” he said, and tugged away her veils.

She had thought of this moment so often. She and Vindice had schemed the most elaborate tortures for him. They would hang him by his own entrails; alive, if they could manage it. They would pour molten gold down his throat till he drowned in it. They would drug his eyes open, and make him watch as they burned his skin off by poison, an inch at a time.

This was not that, exactly. But it still felt good, immeasurably good, to see his horror. His revulsion and disbelief, as he stared at what his poison had done to her, her cheeks and neck a whirling mess of scars, her lipless teeth bared in their permanent grin, set in the naked bone of her jaw. And it felt good to surge up after him as he scrambled backwards, crying out; to fasten her hands around his arms; to bite down on his mouth and feel him shake and scream in revulsion, even as Vindice and Lussurioso rose up on either side of the bed and sunk their knives into his back.

It didn’t take long. He was an old man, after all, and there was only so much blood in him. But she tasted it on the remains of her tongue, and was sated.

The three of them stood over the corpse, breathing hard. Vindice was looking at the Duke, eyes dancing. She suspected all he was thinking of right then was whether to kick him a few more times. Lussurioso was looking at her. Reading a story in her face; whether the right one or not, she couldn’t be sure. At last he cleared his throat.

“Fair monstrousness; I named you ill, it seems. I ought, I see, to have called you Lady Death.”

“Life  _ and  _ Death,” Vindice corrected, moving to stand next to him. His blade was in his hand still; loose, casual, as though he had forgotten it was there. “Together in one face. What man most fears, and what man most desires.”

“Indeed,” Lussurioso said, and bowed to her. The gesture lacked the hint of irony he’d always given it before. “And so, my lady, now I am the Duke; or else I’m dead.” He glanced at Vindice. “The fault is all my own. This man I thought my own, I think is yours. And I cannot know what your plans have been. My father sinned, but my hands are not clean. We’ve proved in this place murder won’t be heard. Lady Life-and-Death, I wait upon your word.”

Gloriana felt as cold and clear as the night itself as she looked around at them. Lussurioso, his hands not clean, indeed, covered as they were in his father’s blood. Vindice, grinning his wolf’s grin, eyes alight with his happy madness. Castiza, watching quietly from her vantage point in the stalls, toying with one of her deadly little throwing knives. All of their gazes fixed on her, silent, intense, attending on her judgement. Waiting to see which way her fan would fall.

_ Yes. _

_ No. _

_ Wait. _


End file.
